The end of Semana Santa; Burgos and Bilbao

Because my friend Bob Mayock was enthusiastic about Semana Santa in Madrid and other parts of Spain, I'd asked friends and acquaintances in Bilbao what to expect.    Their answers ranged from "It's fantastic!" to "Really, there isn't much going on" to " I've lived here 15 years and haven't seen anything". Internet research provided some information on past Semana Santa processions in Bilbao, but I wanted to plan something this year...how very American of me!
So when the opportunity to visit Tom on Easter in Burgos presented, and the diocese of Burgos provided online procession information including dates, times, routes and cofradías involved, I was delighted. Yeah, I thought! Burgos must be where it's at!
If you read my first post about Semana Santa, I know I was able to see the first procession in Bilbao (Passion Friday), and it was spectacular. I was astonished, and pleased that I'd be able to see the Palm Sunday procession before I headed off to Burgos to meet Tom. I had been told that the Palm Sunday (Domingo de Ramos) procession in Bilbao was particularly beloved by children, because it featured the figure of Christ on a donkey, a borriquito, as the main float, or paso. Plus, this was another event sponsored by my parish, San Vincente Martír, and the procession went right past my house, so I could see it from the 6th floor terrace, where it looked like this:

The weather was cooperative; I didn't know until days later that processions were always cancelled when there is even a threat of rain. It makes sense when you see the floats, as they are decorated with statues, velvet and as many fresh flowers as those in the Begonia Festival in Capitola. After a bit, I went down and stood at the end of my street.

Palm Sunday, remember? These are palm branches.

My informant was right, there were lots of children, not just watching, but participating in the procession, too.

Not just small children, either. I liked these contrasting bracelets although she was trying to keep them under her gloves. Quite the modern touch:

Some of the children were so darn cute, and seemed to be having a lot of fun. It was still early in the procession though!

These may be the only photos I will have of Spanish children, as adults are very very sensitive about having their children's photos taken. I was roundly taken to task when I tried to take a photo of a teacher talking to a group of children in a museum. When children's photos appear in the media, their faces are always pixelated.

Finally, the little donkey passed by:

Here are 2 short videos of the procession:

I was feeling suitably impressed by the pomp and the costumes and the setting in Bilbao, amazed that it all seemed to appear without much advanced information. I thought that if this is what Semana Santa was like in Bilbao, it would even be more pompous, more colorful and, yes... holier... in Burgos.

But, as I already mentioned, it requires the cooperation of the weather, which we did not have. We did see one procession, which was almost curiously lacking the verve and impact of Bilbao's processions. A big contributing factor: there were few participants in full dress. Most people wore robes, but there were few cone shaped head coverings.

There were some interesting and unique touches, like several participants carrying crosses:

And these mace carriers that looked like something out of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass. Seeing them made me want to start yelling "off with their heads!".

Alas, the night of the largest procession, ending in a high mass in the beautiful-but-frigid cathedral, the weather wasn't cooperative. Thus ended Semana Santa for 2013. If it was a restaurant, it would have 5 stars; if it was a book, it would win the Man-Booker Award; science research, the Nobel prize. It's none of those things, it's actually better, because you, yes you, and me too, can see this every year. Come to Spain for Semana Santa. If the weather cooperates, you will be amazed.

From Tom on the Camino: Burgos to Leon

Tom has completed more than half of the walk to Santiago de Compostela! Kate Bowland and I met him in Leon to celebrate their birthdays-both born on April 8. He's worn through his favorite pair of boots. Luckily, he found a great pair in Leon that seem to be working out. He expected to arrive in Santiago de Compostela in a week or ten days and will continue an additional 90 km to Finisterre, if possible. Finisterre is on the Galician coast and means 'end of the earth'. It's widely believed to be the westernmost point on the Iberian peninsula. It's traditional for pilgrims to burn their clothing or boots when they arrive here [Tom, why is that?]. Here are some of his recent photos:

check out the mileage!

Happy to know that St. Bridget is looking out over him, too:

Happy birthday in Leon!

 Magnificent stained class in the cathedral-1800 sq meters!

Sharing Bilbao, Barcelona and Burgos with Friends

The Bilbao-Barcelona train train is about 5 hours of indolent comfort, well suited to someone who wants to find out what the countryside is like between these two cities-me! On March 15, Tom departed for Roncevalles to begin the Camino de Santiago de Compostela and I took the more indulgent path to Barcelona via train, to meet my sister-in-law Phyl and our mutual friend Beverly. The first part of the day I traveled through countryside Tom would see within a day or two:

Tom, do you really want to walk thru this?

But then the mountains gave way to orchards where SPRING was evident!

The travelin' chicas (Ellen, Bev and Phyl) found their favorite market early in the trip, Mercat Sant Josep/La Boqueria and we made a point of going there every day. I love market places and this has to be one of the best. Fruits, vegetables, meat, cheese, fish....every type of food you can imagine. Bakes goods, carry away foods, dried mushroom stands, sit-down restaurants. Spotlessly clean, stained glass on the front wall, covered. A foodie's dream of heaven.

6 kinds of dried wild mushrooms!

We sent to the sea-side resort of Sitges for a quilting festival:

 

Rode the funicular to the top of Montjuic. The amazing views of the port were a high point of the trip

 

as was my visit to the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. Tom and I first visited the cathedral in 1996 when we toured southern Spain with Tommy and Zeph. They didn't come to the cathedral with us-something about being out too late the night before! Designed by Catalan visionary and architect Antoni Gaudi, construction began in 1883 and is expected to be completed by 2041. I was looking forward to seeing what progress had been made in the intervening 17 years, and I wasn't disappointed. I hope my plans to return in 17 years aren't thwarted by age or illness. There don't seem to be adequate words to describe the mixture of grandeur and delicacy of the stone work, nor the delight for eyes in the constantly moving lines and shapes.

Beverly and Phyl came back to Bilbao with me where we partied on for another week, until Phyl felt the call of the office. Thanks, brother Larry, for doing without her for 10 days! Beverly managed to stay for another week or so, during which time we visited many shoe, purse and fabric stores in Bilbao before we drove to Burgos to meet Tom. 

Brr...cold and wet in Burgos. We drove about 60 km south of Burgos to see and, more importantly hear, the monks of Santo Domingo de Silos, who incorporate Gregorian chant in their daily worship. We sloshed down to the monastery and toured the cloisters with a monk. It reminded me of sitting in 8th grade catechism class on a Saturday morning! It was Good Friday, so maybe he felt like we needed some extra strength proselytizing. The chanting was ethereal; my only wishes were that it was longer and that the kids in the pew in back of me would shut up and stop kicking the kneeler. On a sunny day, this is what the cloister looks like:

To listen to the Santo Domingo de Silos monks follow this link:

http://www.abadiadesilos.es/escuchar.htm  

We drove back to Burgos through a real gully-washer of a storm. David took this fine photo. The water was gushing out between 2 different strata of rock-quite astonishing:

I forded 3 streams in the trusty Peugeot rental car( I love fording streams in cars!!) in order to see a 7th century Visigoth church, Santa Maria Quintanilla de las Viña, which is probably the oldest church in Spain. Over the altar there are some very interesting anthropomorphic carving of the sun and moon, probably indicating pre-Christian worship melding with Christian. The carvings around the building were in surprisingly good shape.

 

Other photos of Burgos:

The lovely cathedral, alas colder than most refrigerators inside

The papamoscas-his jaw moves as the hour strikes